Johannesburg - It’s the “P” time of year! If you go for the “Four Ps” (poppies, pansies, primulas and petunias), consider a fifth to add to your garden – pelargoniums.
Sure, we have all got our winter-flowering annuals and bedding plants in – haven’t we? This is a great time for thinking about brightening up the garden with flowering pelargoniums as well.
With more than 250 indigenous species and new cultivars coming up all the time, you’re bound to find something that will fit any little dull space in your garden.
They’re great planted in the ground, in containers, hanging baskets – and who doesn’t immediately think of those beautifully laid-out window boxes in countries all over Europe?
These Proudly South African beauties tick so many boxes. They’re waterwise, hardy, evergreen, colourful, deliciously fragrant and low maintenance.
You may think of them as being old-fashioned, but along with many other plants that would have been found in granny’s garden, these doyennes of the gardening world have been making a steady comeback.
When it comes to those enlightened souls who are creating home veggie patches, the varieties with scented leaves are an absolute must as they are great companion plants and perfect for keeping some pernicious pests away from your edibles.
Or for those who are going totally indigenous – no more complaints about Safrican plants not having enough colour or not being pretty enough!
With so many varieties available, here’s what to look for. If you are wanting something to use in your border or as a ground cover, zonal Pelargoniums – probably the best known have “zones” or bands of colour in their leaves – are all about the foliage.
They do get blooms, which can be single, double, bicoloured; or have veining, outlines or splashes in the petals.
Older cultivars can grow up to a metre, with newer ones getting to about 20-50cm.
As mentioned, the scented varieties have become really popular, with attractive aromatic foliage to please any nose.
The rose-scented varieties are readily available (P. capitatum, P. graveolens and P. radens), with the lemon-scented P. citronellum another firm favourite. But do look around for those that smell like apples, nutmeg, musk, peppermint and coconut.
You don’t have to plant them only in the veg patch, however – plant them along pathways or patios so you get the best effect when you brush against their leaves.
Regals flower later, and longer, than the others once the weather has become a touch warmer.
These grow to between 50cm and a metre tall and wide, and are happy in containers or well-drained soil in the garden. Make sure to plant them where they won’t be hammered by frost, as they are more tender than the rest.
If you’re after a plant that will trail out of a hanging basket or window box, or grow up a fence or retaining wall, the ivy-leafed variety, which flowers on and off all year round, is the one you need.
They’re also happy in rockeries, as are succulent types, such as P. tetragonum or P. laxum.
Easy to look after – and easy to propagate from cuttings too.
Just remember, if you have a hot garden in summer, put them in a semi-shaded spot, make sure they are in well-drained soil, don’t overwater them, prune them back a bit if they start becoming leggy after flowering, and put them into bed with a nice blanket of mulch – nighty-night!
Saturday Star
* Melanie and landscape designer Michael Rickhoff host Grounded, a radio show dedicated to all things green, on 1485am Radio Today on Saturdays at 11.30am (available on DStv audio channel 869).